1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to nitride-based heterostructures, and more specifically, to an improved nitride-based light emitting heterostructure.
2. Related Art
Recently, nitride-based light emitting diodes and lasers that emit light in the blue and deep ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths have attracted a great deal of interest. These devices may be capable of being applied to various areas, including solid-state lighting, biochemical detection, high-density data storage, and the like. However, to date, the performance of nitride-based light emitting diodes and lasers quickly worsens as the radiation wavelength is reduced into the ultraviolet range. A significant barrier to more efficient performance in the higher frequencies is the efficiency with which light generated by the light generating portion of the devices is extracted. In particular, the extraction of light in these devices is frequently limited to a transparent substrate since the UV light is absorbed by the top layer. As a result, only a single path is provided for extracting the generated light, rather than two or more paths in other types of devices.
As a result, a need exists for a nitride-based light emitting heterostructure that more efficiently extracts light. In particular, a need exists for a light emitting heterostructure that includes a distributed semiconductor heterostructure Bragg reflector structure formed over the light generating structure.